Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Breaking the stereotype that is agriculture

Dear agricultural stereotypes,

If you asked me who my favorite country music artists today
were I would rattle off the Dirty River Boys, Reckless Kelly and Cody Canada
without skipping a beat. But wait you say with a confused look on your face, “who
are they? What about Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Kip Moore?” With my response
being…”Who???” Stereotypes happen in all walks of life and some of the most prevalent
pertain to the agricultural industry. Just because I farm doesn't mean that I listen
to what the public perceives as “country music”. If you asked someone on the street what their perception
of a “farmer” was I’m betting the next round that 100 times out of 100 this
would be the description:

1.White and close to retirement.

2.Married with kids.

3.Listens to country music.

4.Wears plaid (Ok, you got me there)

5.Drives a tractor all day.

While there is nothing wrong with the small portion of the
industry that fits this category, there is more of us out there who don’t. Yes,
I am white but I lack a wife and children other than the B-List internet
sensation that lives in the studio on my back porch. My IPod is full of Dr. Dre
and Too Short rather than “bubble gum” country. I prefer flip flops to boots
whenever possible. Wranglers and a starched shirt accompanied by a bolo tie are
not my outfit of choice for a night on the town and as much as I love to spend
quality time in a tractor it is hard to run an operation that feeds millions of
people along with providing vital jobs and much needed business to the
community from one. It pains me to see documentaries where the main focus is of
the farmer or rancher and there use of a smart phone or other everyday technology
in their daily life. Most kids in grade school use this technology so why wouldn't
people who run multi-million dollar businesses?! We need to paint the picture
that we are as innovative as the Silicon Valley and not the Marlboro Man. The
buzzword in agriculture and how we get our message across to society has been
deemed “Agvocate” recently. It is in my opinion that a lot of the people we
reach out to concerning agriculture are our own. The general public needs to
know that the people who keep food on their table and the clothes on their back
come in something other than what is seen in a Chevy or Ford commercial. We are
family farms and ranches, small to large operations, we grow both conventional
and organically. We were raised in small country towns along with large urban communities.
Most of us enjoy a great steak as well as a plate of sushi. We are one of the
most diversified work forces in America and are proud of what we do. We
perpetuate our own identities that the public views. In order to change this we
must change the way we market ourselves. Our story to the viewing audience
should be that of diversification along with sophistication. Let them know that
agriculture is more than just sitting on a tractor or rounding up cattle. In a
way we are like California itself, so let’s showcase all we have to offer….

PS. Happy hump day peeps on this extremely wet afternoon.
Let’s keep praying for that wet stuff and remember…..If you drive a white
truck, I’m going to wave.

Life according to me:

Farming includes lots of long hours and hard work. Many hours on the tractor and in the field also gives you lots of time to figure out the world's problems at the same time you are trying to feed it, I guess multi-tasking is one of our greatest strengths. From politics to sports to music to why did insert actor or actress wear that to the Oscar's please enjoy and feedback is not only welcome it is necessary.......Thank you!